LUCCA.- A major chapter of Italy’s 19th-century art history is coming back into focus with The King’s Painter. Luigi Norfini in Risorgimento Italy, the first large-scale monographic exhibition devoted to the Tuscan artist Luigi Norfini. Opening on December 20, 2025, and running through April 26, 2026, the exhibition unfolds across multiple venues in Lucca and Pescia, marking the bicentenary of Norfini’s birth and offering a long-overdue reassessment of his role in shaping the visual language of the Italian Risorgimento.
Organized by the National Museums of Lucca in collaboration with the Museo Palazzo Galeotti in Pescia, the exhibition brings together works displayed at the Casermetta of Villa Guinigi, Palazzo Mansi, and Palazzo Galeotti. Curated by Luisa Berretti, Emanuele Pellegrini, and Ettore Spalletti, the project places Norfini at the center of a broader narrative about art, politics, and national identity in 19th-century Italy.
Born in Pescia in 1825, Norfini trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence under Giuseppe Bezzuoli and later Luigi Mussini. Like many artists of his generation, he experienced the Risorgimento firsthand. In 1848, he volunteered to fight at Curtatone, an experience that profoundly shaped both his life and his art. Sketches made directly on the battlefield—some of which are included in the exhibition—remain among the most vivid visual testimonies of Italy’s struggle for independence.
The exhibition’s core, housed at Villa Guinigi, reunites a substantial group of Norfini’s paintings for the first time, many drawn from private collections and loans from major museums in Milan, Turin, and Florence. Several works have never before been shown publicly, including pieces preserved by the artist’s descendants. These are presented alongside paintings by Norfini’s contemporaries and friends, such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, and Telemaco Signorini, creating a rich dialogue between different approaches to Risorgimento painting.
At the heart of the exhibition are two monumental battle scenes that capture the emotional and ideological intensity of the period: Vittorio Emanuele II and the Zouaves. Victory at Palestro (1863), on loan from the National Museum of the Risorgimento in Turin and undergoing restoration for the occasion, and The Battle of Novara (1859), from Milan. Seen together, these canvases immerse visitors in the fervor, sacrifice, and hope that defined Italy’s path to unification.
Beyond history painting, the exhibition also highlights Norfini’s refined portraiture. Favored by the House of Savoy, he produced important works for Italy’s first monarchs, including a major portrait of Vittorio Emanuele II for the Quirinal Palace. At the same time, he became a sought-after portraitist for the emerging bourgeoisie—bankers, lawyers, and intellectuals—capturing their ambitions and identities with elegance and modern sensibility.
The exhibition continues at Palazzo Mansi in Lucca and Palazzo Galeotti in Pescia, where works from permanent collections complete the narrative, including drawings, portraits, and late studio interiors. Together, these venues trace Norfini’s career from youthful patriot to cultural leader: a painter, educator, and director of the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Lucca for more than two decades.
Accompanied by educational programs, guided tours, and a scholarly catalogue, The King’s Painter restores Luigi Norfini to his rightful place in Italian art history—as an artist who gave visual form to a nation in the making.
